Zim Online
Thu 22 June
2006
HARARE - About 25 police some carrying guns and teargas
canisters
stormed the funeral of the father of opposition Movement for
Democratic
Change (MDC) party leader Morgan Tsvangirai, ordering mourners to
remove the
party's regalia and stop sloganeering.
Tsvangirai's
father, Dzingai Chibwe, died at Murambinda Hospital in
rural Buhera district
last Sunday at the age of 78. He was buried at a
family compound in the arid
district, about 200 km south-east of Harare.
But the burial
ceremony - a hallowed occasion in the local Shona
culture - was thrown into
chaos as police attempted to force the about 1 000
mourners to remove MDC
T-shirts and bandanas in yet another clear example of
harassment of the
opposition leaders and supporters.
The police, who were said to
have been in a fighting mood, bizarrely
claimed that the mourners were
violating the government's tough Public Order
and Security Act (POSA) that
forbids political gatherings without prior
permission from the
police.
Tsvangirai's spokesman William Bango told
ZimOnline last night that
the police only backed down after they were
challenged by MDC secretary
general Tendai Biti, a lawyer by profession and
other Members of Parliament
(MPs) of the opposition party to specify the
section of POSA they alleged
mourners had violated.
"That was a
straight act of harassment on Mr Tsvangirai. The police
said the mourners
were in violation of POSA but that was resisted by some
MPs who challenged
the police to show the sections of POSA which the
mourners had violated,"
said Bango.
Police spokesman Wayne Bvudzijena last night said he
had not been
briefed on the matter and could therefore not comment. "I am
just coming out
of a meeting so I haven't heard about that. I will have to
check," he said.
Under the tough security law, it is illegal for
Zimbabweans to
assemble in groups of more than three to discuss politics
without first
seeking approval from the police.
But the MDC and
human rights groups often accuse President Robert
Mugabe and his government
of using the security law to cripple the main
opposition which has posed the
greatest challenge to his 26-year old grip on
power. Mugabe denies the
charge. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Thu 22 June 2006
HARARE - A surge in prices of
basic commodities and a sharp slide by
the Zimbabwe dollar on the parallel
market in past weeks could undo a fresh
initiative by President Robert
Mugabe to halt the economy's free-fall,
further putting pressure on his grip
on power, analysts said.
Crisis-weary Zimbabweans have in the last
week awoken to a sharp
increase in the price of bread, the second staple
food, while transport
fares for urban workers have doubled in some
instances, effectively forcing
most people to walk for several kilometers to
work.
In the meantime, the Zimbabwe dollar has depreciated further
on the
black market, weakening from 320 000 to the greenback at the start of
last
week to around 400 000 yesterday.
The local unit is
officially pegged at 101 195 to the US dollar. But
most Zimbabweans
including private firms and some government departments
depend on the
illegal but thriving black-market for foreign currency.
Mugabe's
government launched a new economic recovery initiative on
April 19, which it
dubbed the National Economic Development Priority Plan
(NEDP), touting it as
the panacea to a long-running economic recession that
has seen inflation
spiral to nearly 1 200 percent and sparked shortages of
hard cash, fuel and
electricity.
"The price increases are being pushed by rising
business costs and
that has its roots in the perceived value of the Zimbabwe
dollar," said
Harare economist James Jowa. "The consequences are obviously
the impact on
inflation and ultimately more increases in prices creating a
vicious cycle,"
he added.
Analysts said the price increases
threatened efforts by the government
to turn around the economy, which the
World Bank cites as the worst
performing for a country outside a war
zone.
Reviving the comatose economy has become key to Mugabe's
government to
ease rising tensions especially in urban areas, the hotbed of
opposition
support, as poverty deepens and families battle to eke out a
living.
Under NEDP, the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe sees direct and
indirect
foreign currency inflows amounting to US$2.5 billion within 90
days. But 62
days down the line, analysts cast doubt on the government's
capacity to
attract such forex inflows.
"It is difficult to
imagine how they can raise US$2.5 billion when the
whole of last year we
only managed far less," John Robertson, an economic
consultant told
ZimOnline.
"We can only start seeing positive changes when we
address fundamental
issues such as restoring the rule of law and confidence,
which will
ultimately trigger some investment that the country desperately
needs,"
Robertson said.
Mugabe's critics say a change in
Zimbabwe's economic fortunes lie in
political reform, insisting that the
veteran leader has driven the southern
African nation to near ruin through
controversial policies such as the
arbitrary seizure of land from white
commercial farmers.
The price of petrol this week rocketed to
between $400 000 and $500
000 per litre meanwhile as supplies ran out and
this despite a much
publicised US$50 million fuel deal signed between
European bank, BNP Paribas
and Mugabe's government.
The deal
was secured by mortgaging nickel output from Bindura Nickel
Corporation.
Zimbabwe has experienced intermittent fuel
shortages since 2000 and
several deals, including with Libyan and Kuwaiti
firms have collapsed after
Harare failed to pay.
Zimbabweans
say they are now used to frequent price increases, taking
with them huge
wads of cash for basic shopping. Many families have
drastically scaled down
on their needs, in many cases to the barest minimum
for
survival.
"What is important now is to keep body and soul together,
life has
become tough and unbearable," said Anita Kumbawa, a vegetable
vendor in
Harare's Avenues area who has to contend with frequent raids from
municipal
police.
"What do they want me to do, this is my only
source of income," she
said in the local Shona language, a three-month old
baby strapped on her
back. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Thu 22 June
2006
HARARE - A former provincial chairman in the ruling ZANU PF
party who
left the party in a fallout over the unresolved issue of President
Robert
Mugabe's succession is set to launch his own political party in
Harare on
Saturday.
Daniel Shumba, who is also a former colonel
in the army and was ZANU
PF chairman in the party's stronghold of Masvingo
province, will announce
the formation of the United People's Party (UPP) at
Zimbabwe Grounds in
Harare's low-income suburb of Harare.
The
UPP is provisionally led by Shumba as interim president. Other
leaders of
the new party will be announced at the launch with most of them
expected to
be disgruntled former ZANU PF members and many from Masvingo.
But
political analysts do not see major defections from ZANU PF to the
new
party.
Promoters of the new party said in a statement yesterday
that its
formation is going to see the crisis-hit nation's "political
landscape being
redefined" and also urged members and non-members of the
party to come to
the launch to "share with Zimbabwe the ushering of a
democratic
dispensation".
They said the new party will push for
the restoration of the rule of
law, scrapping of all repressive laws and
promotion of foreign
investor-friendly policies.
Shumba and
five other ZANU PF provincial chairmen as well as former
government
propaganda chief, Jonathan Moyo, were in 2004 suspended by Mugabe
from the
party after attempting to thwart the appointment of Vice-President
Joice
Mujuru to the post.
Mugabe had backed Mujuru - who is the wife of
powerful former army
general Solomon Mujuru - to take over as second
vice-president of ZANU PF
and the government, to place her ahead of rivals
for the top job when the
veteran leader retires in 2008.
Shumba, Moyo and others had supported former parliamentary speaker
Emmerson
Mnangagwa for the vice-president's job but were blocked by Mugabe
and
punished for daring to oppose Mujuru's rise.
It remains to be seen
how much of a political force the UPP will
become but analysts do not see
the new party altering much the political
landscape, with the larger faction
of the splintered opposition Movement for
Democratic Change party that is
led by Morgan Tsvangirai still regarded as
the main challenger to Mugabe and
ZANU PF. - ZimOnline
Zim Online
Thu 22 June 2006
HARARE - Zimbabwean police have arrested
several women over the past
few weeks accusing the women who were watching
the 2006 World Cup football
matches in sports bars of loitering for purposes
of prostitution.
The police last Friday raided sports bars in
Kuwadzana, Kambuzuma,
Warren Park and Budiriro suburbs in Harare chucking
out all women patrons
and arresting all those who tried to
resist.
Agnes Ndlovu, one of the victims of the police crackdown,
told
ZimOnline yesterday that they were chucked out of Maglas Sports Bar in
Kambuzuma last Friday during the Ivory Coast, Netherlands
match.
"This was a clear violation of our rights. I went home under
protest,"
said Ndlovu.
The director of the women's rights
organisation, Women's Action Group,
Edina Masiyiwa, criticised the police
craids saying her organisation will
lodge a formal complaint to Police
Commissioner Augustine Chihuri over the
matter.
"It is an abuse
of women's rights and should stop. Why are they not
arresting men in the
bars as well?" said Masiyiwa.
But when contacted for comment,
police spokesperson, Andrew Phiri
denied that the police had launched an
operation to crack down on
prostitution in bars.
"Officially, I
don't know of an operation like that. I will phone the
officer-in-charge of
the affected areas for confirmation," Phiri said.
Prostitution is
illegal in Zimbabwe. But the practise has been on the
rise in Zimbabwe over
the past few years because of a severe economic
meltdown that is pushing
young girls onto the streets in search of survival.
The police have
often raided brothels and hotels in cities and towns
around the country,
rounding up women they suspected of loitering for
purposes of prostitution.
- ZimOnline
Santa Barbara News
DAVID MORDKOFF, Associated Press
Writer
June 21, 2006 12:05 PM
Deepening economic woes have
taken some of the cheer out of the World Cup
for soccer-crazy Zimbabweans
who had hoped to briefly escape their troubles
with a few drinks while
watching the tournament on television.
Sports bars, including one across
the street from President Robert Mugabe's
official residence in central
Harare that escapes daily water and power
outages, had been reporting brisk
business during the tournament.
But that might change. The price of beer
went up by 50 percent on Tuesday,
the third increase this year, and the cost
of scarce gasoline rose by about
a third.
Regular gasoline, available
at a handful of gas stations in Harare on
Monday, costs more than $16
dollars per gallon. Minibus operators raised
their fares after gas shortages
forced them to buy black-market fuel,
defying government orders to maintain
fixed charges for the type of
transport used by most
Zimbabweans.
Long lines of vehicles snaked around gas stations awaiting
deliveries of
fuel and dwindling supplies were expected to further increase
the price,
industry executives said.
Soccer fan Maxwell Gomwe, a
cobbler from a township that regularly
experiences utility outages, said an
outing to a sports bar was rapidly
becoming too expensive.
''Even if
we get there, prices are too high. We'll have to stay at home and
take our
chances with the electricity,'' he said.
Gomwe described as
''excruciating'' a power outage before Ghana's second
goal in its 2-0 upset
of the Czech Republic broadcast by state TV on
Saturday.
Some bars
and restaurants that have installed gas-guzzling generators charge
entrance
fees to watch soccer, redeemable on purchases of menu items.
Zimbabwe
imports nearly 40 percent of its power from neighboring countries.
Its own
generating stations have been hit by breakdowns coupled with
shortages of
equipment, spare parts and coal.
The main brewery said this week's price
increase was forced by soaring
production and delivery costs. Official
inflation is running at a record
1,193 percent, the highest in the
world.
Harare businessman Max Ross said he envied fellow countrymen who
loved
following the World Cup.
''The way things are here, at least
they've got something to look forward to
at the moment,'' he said.
The Herald (Harare)
June 21,
2006
Posted to the web June 21, 2006
Brian
Benza
Harare
GOVERNMENT'S aggressive mopping activities and increased
recourse to the
domestic market for financing have seen its debt rising by
about 40 percent
in one month.
According to central bank figures,
total Government domestic debt stood at
$21 trillion as of June 2 from $15
trillion at the beginning of last month.
The bulk of the debt comes from
Treasury bills issues which have been the
chief instrument used by the
central bank in its open market operations.
On each trading day the
central bank is on the market floating TB tenders in
an attempt to stem
inflationary credit.
Last week injections into the market amounted to
over $9,8 trillion through
ZTB OMO Bills maturities and civil servants' June
salaries. However, the
money market remained in deficit as a result of
withdrawals through 91-day
Treasury bills and CPI-linked Treasury bills
tenders that were persistently
conducted during the week.
Of the $21
trillion, $18,8 trillion of the Treasury bill component of the
debt which
Government stocks are at a mere $1,6 trillion.
More than half of the
Treasury bill debt is from interest accruals.
On a year-to-date basis the
Government's debt has risen by over 250 percent
from $5,8 trillion in
January and that was before the heavy TB maturities
and civil servants'
salary injections prompted the central bank to be more
aggressive in its
mopping policy.
On the other hand, the annual inflation figure has
doubled since January
from 613 percent to 1 193 percent in
May.
However, it is like a vicious cycle on the market because the papers
being
issued for mopping at the moment will have the same effect on the
market on
maturity.
Market watchers expect the central bank to
continue with its tight monetary
policy and interest rates will firm, albeit
at a marginal rate in tandem
with the expected tight liquidity
conditions.
"Government's recourse to the domestic sector for funding,
however, leads to
an expansion in money supply growth, thus it is important
for it to contain
its expenditure thereby minimising borrowings from the
domestic sector to
reduce inflationary pressures," said an
economist.
Apart from borrowing from the domestic market in order to
finance its
expenditure, Government can utilise its overdraft facility with
the central
bank. There is, however, a statutory limit on the amount the
Government can
borrow, which is set at 20 percent of the previous year's
revenue
collection.
This means Government can stretch their overdraft
window with the central
bank to as much as $6,4 trillion this year, after
Zimra collected $32
trillion.
In line with their active policy, the
RBZ this week was on the money market
with two 91-day Treasury bill tenders
and one 365-day CPI-linked Treasury
bills tender. On the first tender,
$360,8 billion worth of Treasury bills
for 91 days were allotted out of the
same amount at 510 percent across.
On the second tender, $56,3 billion
worth of CPI-linked Treasury bills for
365 days were allotted, while on the
last tender, only $22,3 billion worth
of 91-day-Treasury bills were allotted
out of the same amount at 510 percent
across.
On Monday the money
market opened $5,3 trillion down and was forecast to
close $2,7 trillion in
deficit due to statutory reserve payments. 90-day
NCDs and BAs of the same
tenor were quoted unchanged around 450 percent,
while call rates were also
indicated unmoved from 3 percent to 10 percent
and interbank overnight rates
were quoted firmer in the 700 percent to 800
percent range.
Mail and Guardian
Harare, Zimbabwe
21 June 2006
12:56
Zimbabwe Information Minister Tichaona Jokonya has
restructured
the state broadcaster in an apparent bid to wipe out changes
made by his
controversial predecessor Jonathan Moyo, according to reports on
Wednesday.
Jokonya, who replaced Moyo last year, told a press
conference
that the Zimbabwe Broadcasting Holdings (ZBH) would have a new
board of
directors, according to the state-run Herald
newspaper.
The nine companies formed when Moyo unbundled what
was then the
Zimbabwe Broadcasting Corporation (ZBC) have been dissolved and
merged into
just two entities, Zimbabwe Television Services and Radio
Services, said the
daily.
Moyo, a former university
professor, gained international
notoriety during his time in President
Robert Mugabe's Cabinet when he
crafted tough press laws outlawing the
publication of falsehoods and made it
a crime for reporters to work without
a licence.
He supported Mugabe's view that Zimbabwe was under
a Western
media siege, and appeared to be one of the president's most
trusted
lieutenants. But then Moyo fell from grace in late 2004 when he
threw his
weight behind political heavyweight Emmerson Mnangagwa for the
next
vice-president, instead of Joyce Mujuru who turned out to be Mugabe's
choice.
Moyo was ousted from government and went on to
stand and win as
an independent candidate in parliamentary elections in
March 2005. He has
since become a vocal critic of the
government.
Jokonya hinted that the restructuring of the
public broadcaster
could see some job losses.
But he
promised reporters that he would look into their
grievances over poor
pay.
A parliamentary committee recently found that some
journalists
for state-run media here were paid as little as Zim$6-million
($60) per
month.
Zimbabwe's Poverty Datum Line now stands
at Zim$52-million
($520) a month as people battle to survive soaring
inflation of nearly 1
200%. - Sapa-DPA
June 21,
2006
By Tagu Mkwenyani
Harare (AND) Morgan Tsvangirai,
the president of the opposition
Movement for Democratic Change (MDC) says
his party has not decided whether
or not to grant the Zimbabwean president
immunity.
Tendai Biti, the party's secretary general, was last
month quoted as
saying the MDC was prepared to grant Mugabe immunity as part
of a broader
international community initiative to solve the Zimbabwe
crisis.
The report raised controversy in Zimbabwe where some people
strongly
feel that Mugabe must be held accountable for the human rights
violations
committed by his regime. Mugabe unleashed his militias on
supporters of the
opposition MDC and white farmers during the run up to the
2000 and 2002
elections resulting in many people losing their
lives.
Mugabe also stands accused of unleashing a North Korean
trained Fifth
Brigade unit in the Matabeleland province during the 1980s
where an
estimated 20 000 civilians were killed. The army was hunting a few
dissidents who operated in the region.
Clarifying the party's
position in an interview with Short Wave Radio,
Tsvangirai said while they
were talking about a Truth and Justice Commission
before March 2005, there
issue of immunity had could come under
consideration.
".if that is
the price that has to be paid by Zimbabweans then of
course Zimbabweans will
be asked to consider that. That is my understanding
of his (Secretary
General Biti) interpretation, he didn't say that, that is
the position of
the MDC.
"He said it is a possibility people have to consider in
order to find
a solution to the crisis that we face.and I'm sure that
Zimbabweans will be
able to make a choice as to what is the way forward, but
he didn't say that
we are giving Mugabe blanket immunity, he recognises the
extent of human
rights abuses," Tsvangirai said.
Harare
Bureau
Seattle Times
By
Craig Timberg
The Washington Post
Wednesday, June 21,
2006
JOHANNESBURG, South Africa - Every time newspaper publisher Trevor Ncube
visits his native Zimbabwe, he said, there seem to be more Chinese. He sees
them shopping at boutiques, driving fancy cars, picking up their children
from elite private schools.
And as in much of Africa, Ncube said,
China's reach into Zimbabwe's economy
is equally pervasive: The roads are
filled with Chinese buses, the markets
with Chinese goods, and Chinese-made
planes are in the skies. Chinese
companies are major investors in mining and
telecommunications. The
government in Beijing, meanwhile, backs Zimbabwe's
authoritarian president,
Robert Mugabe.
"They are all over the
place," said Ncube, 43, who owns newspapers in
Zimbabwe and South Africa.
"If the British were our masters yesterday, the
Chinese have come and taken
their place."
Such unease appears to be rising across Africa as Chinese
become powerful
players - and, in some places, the dominant ones - in
economies across the
continent. China's appetite for raw materials is
helping push sub-Saharan
economies to their fastest growth in 30 years, and
inexpensive Chinese-made
products are suddenly available. Yet many Africans
say the influx, while
offering consumers more affordable goods, has not
improved their economic
situation and has hurt local
companies.
African and Western activists say China's increasingly close
ties to
troubled governments in Angola, Nigeria, Sudan and Zimbabwe are
undermining
efforts to nurture democracy and improve human
rights.
When Chinese President Hu Jintao toured Africa in April, he
implicitly
responded to concerns about his country's growing role on the
continent.
"China's development will not bring a threat to anyone but,
instead, will
only bring more opportunities and space for development to the
world," Hu
told the Nigerian National Assembly, according to news
reports.
He also restated China's policy of making business deals without
any
expectation that governments will improve democracy, respect human
rights or
fight corruption. He said in Nairobi, that China follows "a policy
of
noninterference in other countries' internal affairs."
"See no
evil"
Chinese Premier Wen Jiabao, who visited the Republic of Congo on
Monday as
part of a seven-nation African tour, aims to sign more deals to
keep natural
resources flowing to China.
He stopped earlier in
Egypt and Ghana and heads next to Angola, China's
biggest African supplier
of oil, accounting for 14 percent of its imports.
He also is scheduled to
visit South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda.
In Egypt, he signed 10 oil,
natural-gas and telecommunications deals. He
also agreed to give Egypt a $50
million loan and a $10 million grant to
encourage investment in an
industrial area northwest of the Gulf of Suez.
In Ghana, he signed an
agreement to lend the small West African nation about
$66 million to pay for
a number of projects. One is a plan to upgrade
Ghana's communications
network.
China's overall trade with Africa rose from $10.6 billion in
2000 to $40
billion last year and continues to increase, according to
Chinese government
statistics.
Sub-Saharan Africa's economic growth
rate, meanwhile, has nearly doubled in
the same period, from 3 percent to an
estimated 5.8 percent this year, the
best since 1974, according to the
International Monetary Fund. Among the
major factors, analysts and
economists say, is the increasing trade with
China.
"Those places
that are energy-rich and mineral-rich are awash in cash," said
J. Stephen
Morrison, head of the Africa program for the Center for Strategic
and
International Studies.
"And that is driven in part by these new,
rapid-growth Asian economies."
China spent billions securing drilling
rights in Nigeria, Sudan and Angola,
and has exploration or extraction deals
with Chad, Gabon, Mauritania, Kenya,
the Republic of Congo, Equatorial
Guinea and Ethiopia.
The Chinese also invested in the booming copper
industry in Zambia and Congo
and are major buyers of timber in Gabon,
Cameroon, Mozambique, Equatorial
Guinea and Liberia.
Chinese
companies were widely criticized for keeping former president and
war-crimes
suspect, Charles Taylor, flush with cash and prolonging Liberia's
devastating civil war. The Chinese also helped push up the prices of other
African exports, such as platinum, iron and coal.
Across Africa,
meanwhile, Chinese companies have outbid other foreign firms
on construction
projects, winning contracts to pave highways, build
hydroelectric dams,
upgrade ports, lay railway tracks and build pipelines,
all of which stand to
help Chinese companies more effectively transport
African
resources.
Infrastructure improvements often are explicitly traded for
raw-material
contracts. In Angola, where the government has done little to
alleviate
poverty or stimulate democracy since the end of a civil war in
2002, China
promised $2 billion in aid as part of a deal for oil rights.
Human-rights
activists say that influx of cash stiffened the government's
resolve against
outside pressure, mostly from the West, to make
improvements.
Countries that sign deals with Chinese companies also win
diplomatic
protection. China, as a permanent member of the U.N. Security
Council,
threatened to use its veto power to block sanctions against Sudan,
which
U.S. officials and others accuse of committing genocide in its Darfur
region. That conflict has killed at least 180,000 people and forced more
than 2 million from their homes in the past three years.
China also
resisted efforts by the United Nations to investigate and punish
Mugabe for
a "cleanup campaign" last year in which police destroyed slums
and markets,
depriving 700,000 Zimbabweans of either their homes or their
jobs.
China has been a significant supplier of jet fighters, military
vehicles and
guns to Zimbabwe, Sudan and other repressive
governments.
"Wherever there are resources, the Chinese are going to go
there," said
Peter Takirambudde, head of the Africa division for Human
Rights Watch.
"They see no evil. They hear no evil. That's very bad for
Africans."
Mixed blessing
The Chinese influx can benefit African
economies. Commodities used in
manufacturing, such as oil, copper and
platinum, are surging because of
demand from China and other Asian nations.
Copper prices have increased
sixfold since a 2001 low, topping $8,000 a ton
in recent trading. Platinum
prices have tripled in that time.
The
availability of Chinese motorcycles, air conditioners, T-shirts and
kitchen
utensils has meant lower prices for consumers across the continent.
In South
Africa, two companies plan to introduce Chinese automobiles to the
domestic
market at discount prices.
But the payoff to ordinary Africans,
especially the poor or unemployed, is
mixed.
In South Africa and
Lesotho, low-cost Chinese imports have been blamed for
tens of thousands of
layoffs in the textile industry. And as the rates of
economic growth
climbed, Africans reported that their national economies and
the financial
conditions of individuals seem to have stagnated, according to
Afrobarometer, a polling project that has sampled public opinion in 12
sub-Saharan countries since 2000.
In results released last month, 27
percent of those polled expressed
satisfaction with their own finances, a
drop from 31 percent in 2000. The
sharpest decline was in Nigeria, where
upbeat ratings of personal finances
fell from 68 percent in 2000 to 45
percent. The decline came despite surging
oil profits there and growing
trade with China.
Material from The Associated Press is included in this
report.
Copyright © 2006 The Seattle Times Company
Business Day
Posted to the web on: 21 June 2006
Jonathan
Katzenellenbogen
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
IF
EVER there was a case of the flag following trade, it is China's recent
African diplomacy. China is giving Africa unprecedented amounts of
diplomatic attention after a five-year period in which its trade with the
continent, heavily driven by growth in oil imports and manufactured exports,
has risen fourfold. In Beijing, senior foreign ministry officials call this
year "China's year of Africa".
The attention is a strong signal that
China is putting down its marker as a
serious player on the continent.
Because of China's growing access to oil in
Africa, its role could help
either set off new, intense power rivalries on
the continent, or bring about
new forms of constructive engagement. A new
"scramble for Africa" and its
resources is no foregone conclusion, but the
consequences of a scramble
would be damaging for the continent.
The rise of China's involvement in
Africa has been so fast and so recent
that external powers (the US, the UK
and France) as well as Africa's
regional powers (Egypt, Nigeria and SA) show
signs they are still thinking
through the consequences. Meanwhile, China is
stressing a "peaceful rise" to
Africa and the world.
This week,
Chinese Prime Minister Wen Jiabao is on a seven-nation African
tour that
includes a two-day stop in SA. Earlier this year, Chinese
President Hu
Jintao visited three African countries. And in November,
Chinese and African
leaders will gather in Beijing for a China-Africa
summit - the second so
far. The only other country to host a summit with
African leaders is France.
The European Union is struggling to hold such a
summit because its "smart
sanctions" will not allow Zimbabwe's President
Robert Mugabe to
attend.
In January, Beijing released an official paper on its African
policy, an
indication of its seriousness of purpose in building a "new type
of
strategic relationship". With British Prime Minister Tony Blair's
Commission
for Africa report last year, and the global attention the
continent
received, Beijing may well have felt under pressure to come up
with its
statement on what it is willing to do for Africa. Next year,
Beijing will
host a meeting of African finance ministers at the annual
meeting of the
African Development Bank, a move that reflects an expanded
role as aid
donor.
Africa has an elevated importance to China because
of Beijing's raised
global role, its need for energy and resources, but also
because the
continent's low per-capita income is an ideal market for cheap
Chinese
goods. However, although Africa is important to China, the continent
is far
from central to China's role in the world. China, though increasingly
a
global power, remains primarily an Asian power, with its military power
still focused on Taiwan and Asia.
In terms of oil, Africa is of
growing importance and China has done big
deals in African countries,
including Angola, Nigeria, the Republic of
Congo, and Sudan. Africa's oil
may give it heightened importance, but again
it is not central. Data on the
share of African oil as a percentage of China's
oil imports are not readily
available, but are likely to be less than 20%.
Today, the continent
contributes only 2,8% of China's total trade. China
imports about 40% of its
oil, of which a little less than half comes from
the Middle East. Like other
countries it is trying to diversify its sources
of oil away from the Middle
East, and Africa is a growing source
That China is keen to own oil at
source rather than rely heavily on
contracts with the international oil
majors is bound to intensify energy
rivalry. Beijing sees itself as a
latecomer in the international petroleum
and resources industry and has to
do business where it can - it can't be too
fussy.
If and when China
takes on more active political reform, it is likely that
elements of its
Africa policy might also change - to give human rights and
governance more
emphasis. Currently, Chinese policy stresses
noninterference, no political
conditionality, "mutual benefit", "a win
relationship". There is no talk of
governance and human rights, although
officials say at times that they have
concerns.
But Beijing's policy is couched in careful terms clearly
stating that
support will be carried out to the extent of China's ability.
In effect,
China's is a case-by-case approach, rather than a blanket
alternative source
of aid for countries turned down by the west.
As
much as China is the world's largest holder of foreign reserves, it still
has finite resources, immense domestic needs, and even its state enterprises
tend to take decisions on business grounds.
Take China's differing
policy to two rogue states. Amnesty International
suggests that Chinese aid
and arms-for-oil deals in countries such as Sudan
are the result of its need
for oil. China is also accused, in the United
Nations Security Council, of
offering Sudan protection against the
imposition of sanctions over
Khartoum's role in Darfur. According to the
Institute of Strategic Studies,
China hopes Sudan will supply 9% of Chinese
oil imports in time.
But
China has offered Sudan a great deal more support than it offered
Zimbabwe.
Although Mugabe adopted a "Look East" policy, he got very little
on his trip
to Beijing last year. He was given humanitarian aid, but not the
funds he
needed to repay what the country owed the International Monetary
Fund. And
the deals that will see China opening coal mines and constructing
three
power stations in Zimbabwe, in exchange for chrome, may be more a
long-term
proposition than an immediate one.
It is, however, conspicuous that
neither of these states is on the tour
lists of the Chinese president or the
prime minister this year.
When China has the political will to act, it
can do so on a massive scale.
China has yet to reach the scale of engagement
comparable to any of the
western external powers. But its key advantage in
Africa may be that it is
able to respond on a grand scale with speed, if and
when it has the will.
And the Chinese tend to choose the type of aid
projects that can be
implemented with speed, and which are less reliant on
consultants.
The Chinese have a tradition of thinking big and long-term.
In Africa they've
built national stadiums, parliament buildings, and the
Tanzam railway in the
1970s. Might China be the external power that gives
the New Partnership for
Africa's Development a kick start with a mega
project?
Katzenellenbogen is international affairs
editor.
Rozalla Miller On the Pulse
She went on tour with Michael Jackson on his
European leg of the 'Dangerous
Tour' and made waves with the hit song
'Everybody's Free (to feel good) in
1992. Song bird Rozalla Miller is the
guest On the Pulse. Lance Guma speaks
to her about her glitzy music career
and how it all started. From the dusty
streets of Harare to performing at
the World Music Awards. Songs like Are
you ready to fly, Faith (in the power
of love), I love Music catapulted her
to the title 'Queen of rave.' All her
hit songs are played on the programme.
(http://www.rozalla.com/)
Nixon
Nyikadzino recounts torture by military intelligence: BTH
Lance Guma speaks
to Nixon Nyikadzino a National Constitutional Assembly
field officer who
recounts to Behind the Headlines how military intelligence
officers tortured
him after an NCA demonstration held on the 14th of April
2006. He says he
was bundled into a white B1800 truck by military
intelligence officials led
by a Major Kembo. They pulled dreadlocks from his
head resulting in intense
bleeding while other officers took turns to
assault him. Different parts of
his body were burnt using a burning
cigarette. Nyikadzino was sexually
assaulted and even had a female
officer molest him . He was dumped near
Bindura and left for dead but he
is currently recuperating in South Africa.
Tune in to the programme for the
full story.
Makusha Mugabe on
Reporters Forum
Its not often that a 'Mugabe' is interviewed on Reporters
Forum but this
week Lance Guma speaks to journalist Makusha Mugabe (no
relation to Robert).
Makusha speaks about his journalism career from a
senior reporter at the
Herald to being the Editor of Community Newspaper
Chaminuka News. He is now
in the UK running a pro-democracy website www.changezimbwe.com . Does he
have
problems with his surname in terms of his interaction with ordinary
Zimbabweans?
For the programme schedules visit:
http://www.swradioafrica.com/pages/schedule.php
Lance
Guma
Producer/Presenter
SW Radio Africa
+44-777-855-7615
www.swradioafrica.com
[ This report does not necessarily reflect
the views of the United Nations]
JOHANNESBURG, 21 Jun 2006 (IRIN) -
Encouraged by recent successes in asylum
applications, more Zimbabweans are
seeking political refuge in South Africa,
according to human rights
NGOs.
The number of Zimbabweans applying for asylum in South Africa rose
sharply
in the first three months of this year to 7,211. Zimbabweans account
for 38
percent of the total 18,800 requests, according to government
figures, said
Jack Redden, the spokesman for the UN refugee agency,
UNHCR.
A faith-based rights NGO, Solidarity Peace Trust, which works with
Zimbabwean refugees, said intense lobbying had made South African home
affairs officials more sensitive to the plight of asylum seekers. "We are
receiving more positive feedback, which has encouraged more people to
apply," noted Selvan Chetty, a spokesman for the trust.
He said while
a significant number of asylum seekers were pro-democracy
activists, "there
are many more who are ordinary Zimbabweans, who have
either been beaten up
or affected by state-sponsored campaigns such as
Operation Murambatsvina
(Drive out Filth)". The campaign to demolish
informal settlements in urban
areas affected more than 700,000 people.
According to the trust, their
affiliate organisations process at least 50
new Zimbabwean arrivals every
day. But that number is dwarfed by the scale
of illegal migrants looking for
work across the border. A total of 2,000
Zimbabweans are deported every week
from South Africa, the Geneva-based
International Organisation for Migration
has calculated.
"The increase in the number [of asylum seekers] reflects
the worsening
political situation, the level of harassment and persecution
people face at
the hands of the ZANU-PF government," alleged Jacob van
Garderen, the
national coordinator of the Refugee and Migrant Rights Project
at Lawyers
for Human Rights, a South African NGO.
South Africa is
struggling to clear a backlog of 100,000 to 110,000 asylum
seekers.
According to Van Garderen, the majority of the applicants are
Zimbabweans,
but by November last year, just 86 Zimbabweans had been
approved for refuge
status.
Van Garderen recently handled the high-profile asylum case of Roy
Bennett, a
Zimbabwean opposition MP who was imprisoned for eight months in
2004/2005
for shoving a minister in parliament. He fled the country earlier
this year
after authorities said he had conspired to assassinate President
Robert
Mugabe.
Bennett's application was turned down and he has
lodged an appeal against
the decision. "We have a number of cases where the
appeal board has turned
down department's decision," noted
Garderen.
Zimbabwe, once a middle-income country, is believed to have the
world's
fastest shrinking economy outside of a war zone. An inflation rate
of 1,200
percent has pushed the price of even a basic shopping basket beyond
the
reach of many Zimbabweans.
An estimated three million Zimbabweans
are living in South Africa -
one-third of Zimbabwe's domestic population.
The Herald
(Harare)
June 21, 2006
Posted to the web June 21,
2006
Harare
HARARE Central Hospital's Intensive Care Unit (ICU)
has reopened after four
years of closure, a development that could improve
service delivery at one
of the country's biggest referral health
centres.
Instead of referring all critical cases to Parirenyatwa Hospital
as was the
case over the last years, Harare Hospital would now deal with its
own load.
In an interview, Harare Hospital chief executive Mr Jealous
Nderere said the
ICU had reopened its doors after undergoing extensive
renovations.
The unit would now be able to accommodate up to 15 patients
at any given
time, he said.
"There is a staff load of about 30 in the
unit, which means we should be
able to handle all the critical cases that
come our way.
"Moving critical cases like we were doing during the time
the ICU was closed
was not the most ideal of arrangements though we were
stabilising the
patients first. That is why we are happy about this
development," he said.
Some of the cases that go through the ICU include
serious accident victims
and other equally serious
conditions.
Minister of Health and Child Welfare Dr David Parirenyatwa
said he was happy
with the latest developments as they boded well for the
country's health
delivery system.
Harare Hospital, he said, was one
of the country's premier health
institutions and for it to fully serve the
people - all its units had to be
fully operational.
"There is nothing
as terrible as someone coming to a health centre requiring
ICU only to find
that there is no such facility or the machines are down.
"For that
reason, I am so excited because it is one step towards what we
want to see
happening in all our hospitals," he said.
Many perceive public health
institutions as places that were run down and
with inadequate
machinery.
"We want these health institutions to be overhauled to match
the standards
of other hospitals around the continent and indeed the
world.
"Patients should be able to find comfort in their surroundings.
That is of
extreme importance. Hospitals need to be pleasant and that starts
with how
the buildings and surroundings are maintained before of course we
go to the
care from the nurses and other medical staff."
Besides the
ICU Harare Hospital was also improving its elevators, some of
which were not
working and repairing its X-ray and CT Scan machines.
The Herald
(Harare)
June 21, 2006
Posted to the web June 21,
2006
Harare
EPWORTH pit sand poachers have bumped into three burst
National Oil Company
of Zimbabwe (Noczim) fuel pipes in Msasa where they
have been clandestinely
fetching the precious liquid with
containers.
Noczim might have lost fuel worth billions of dollars through
the pipe
leakages that have seen a syndicate of sand diggers fetch an
average of five
litres after every 10 minutes.
Yesterday, a Herald
crew bumped into the sand poachers from Epworth fetching
petrol from the
three points.
The fuel scam came to light on Monday morning when diggers
from Epworth, who
were digging for pit sand about 500 metres away from the
fuel tanks,
discovered the precious liquid coming out.
The site is
along Jacha River near Muguta Extension in Epworth.
After discovering the
fuel coming out from several pits around the place,
most of the people in
the suburb then rushed with containers to fetch it.
It is believed that
some of them could have sold it to commuter omnibus
operators while some of
the residents could have stored it in their homes,
which is
dangerous.
Investigations have shown that since Monday morning the
residents had been
fetching and taking the fuel to their homes in different
containers ranging
between five and 20 litres.
Yesterday morning,
some alert residents informed the police at Epworth
Police Station who went
to the scene to investigate.
Police spokesman Assistant Commissioner
Wayne Bvudzijena yesterday confirmed
the discovery but said it was a Noczim
issue.
Although no official comment could be obtained from Noczim, its
workers were
yesterday busy trying to rectify the leakage when The Herald
crew visited
the scene.
At least more than six pits were full of the
petrol, which could be smelt
all over the place.
According to some
experts, the fuel was being pushed out from the ground by
water as the two
liquids do not mix.
One of the residents in Epworth, Mr Petros Sithole
said he got to know that
there was fuel at the scene at around 11am on
Monday and went to
investigate.
"I went to the scene and saw several
people with 20-litre, 10-litre and
5-litre containers, full of petrol," he
said.
Some officials from Noczim, who spoke on condition of anonymity,
said
investigations were still in progress to ascertain the causes of the
leakage. They could not shed any light.
Diesel and petrol prices this
week, skyrocketed to between $400 000 and $600
000 a litre from $206 000 and
$280 000 at a time when supplies of the
commodities have
dwindled.
Zimbabwe has been facing intermittent fuel shortages over the
past six years
owing to a foreign currency crunch caused by illegal
sanctions imposed
against the country by the West.
The country
requires US$40 million for its monthly fuel requirements.
The Herald
(Harare)
June 21, 2006
Posted to the web June 21,
2006
Harare
POLICE have launched a crackdown against bakeries
which unilaterally
increased bread prices from the gazetted $85 000 per loaf
to between $130
000 and $160 000 amid fears that the move could trigger
bread shortages.
Harare provincial police spokesperson Assistant
Inspector Memory Pamire
yesterday confirmed the clampdown but could not shed
more light saying the
statistics were still being compiled.
She said
the specific figures would be made available this morning.
"I can confirm
that we are arresting bakeries for overcharging, but we are
still compiling
statistics. We compile the statistics everyday and I can
make available
those for today (yesterday) tomorrow (today) morning," said
Asst Insp
Pamire.
Bakers have since withdrawn the standard loaf of bread whose
prices are
controlled from the market, replacing it with the super white
loaf, which
costs between $190 000 and $220 000.
The price is beyond
the reach of many.
Bakers have, over the past three weeks, defied a
Government directive to
revert to the gazetted price.
Zimbabwe is
reportedly short of flour, forcing bakers to import the
commodity at a
considerably high cost.
According to Bakers Association of Zimbabwe
chairman Mr Burombo Mudumo,
imported flour costs double the price charged by
local millers and bakers
were importing flour at $120 million per tonne
while locally it costs $50
million.
The Deputy Minister of Industry
and International Trade, Cde Phineas
Chihota, last week told Parliament that
price increases were illegal and
Government would take to task all those
found on the wrong side of the law.
Meanwhile, a survey carried by The
Herald revealed that bread had
disappeared from the shelves in various shops
and retail outlets following
the crackdown by the police.
Staff at
one retail outlet in the city centre said they had taken off the
standard
loaf from the shelves following frequent raids by the police.
"We have
resorted to selling this type of bread because we are being
arrested for
selling the standard bread for $130 000. We can only sell this
because
police are not worried about the prices we are charging," said a
staff
member at a Bakers Inn outlet in the city centre.
June 21,
2006
By ANDnetwork .com
Three Zimbabweans have been
arrested for allegedly hijacking a Zambian
truck laden with copper worth $65
billion which was in transit to South
Africa.
By: Walter
Nyamukondiwa and Teckshaw Tom
Frank Utahwarova (43) of
Mabelreign, Harare, his farm manager
Darlington Mundondo and Tawanda Muzinda
reportedly connived with two
Nigerians - who are still at large - and the
truck driver to steal the
consignment.
Police confirmed the
arrests on Tuesday and said the men were all
arrested at various locations
last week.
They, however, could not reveal more information fearing
to prejudice
ongoing investigations.
The arrests follow a
report by a local agent for a Zambian transport
company, Rainbow Company
which trades as Zalawi, of the kidnapping and
hijacking of a Zambian driver
and a truck carrying 34 tones of copper worth
more than $65 billion in
Chinhoyi.
Utahwarova was arrested at his farm in Chegutu and
Muzinda was picked
up at his home in Harare, while the driver of the haulage
truck, Sean
Siyambi (32) was arrested at Chirundu Border Post on his way
back to Zambia.
The incident occurred on June 12 when Zalawi's
local agent, Gerdardas
Gous, made a report to Chinhoyi police after the
truck had disappeared from
the satellite tracking system soon after the
driver had reported at a check
point near the town.
The company
operates a satellite vehicle tracking system, which keeps
track of all
loaded vehicles.
No armed guards accompany the loaded vehicles
while passing through
Zimbabwe because the country is ranked as a safe zone.
Gous said at 00:40am
on the day in question, the driver reported at Tiger
Construction Company in
Chinhoyi in line with company policy and logged onto
the time sheet.
However, a few minutes later, the vehicle
disappeared from the
tracking system, only to reappear after about five
minutes.
Gous said he took this to mean that the tracking device on
the vehicle
could have been tampered with or had developed a
fault.
He waited for the vehicle to report in Gweru, another
checkpoint on
the way to Beitbridge Border Post, but it neither appeared on
the tracking
system in Zambia nor the checkpoint in Gweru.
This
prompted Gous to report the matter to the police in Chinhoyi,
leading to
investigations.
CID Chinhoyi carried out investigations and set a
trap, which led to
the arrest of the Zambian driver.
Upon
interrogation, the driver said he had been approached by a
Zimbabwean who
had offered to purchase the copper he had been carrying on
three different
occasions but he had refused.
The driver allegedly told the police
that on one such incident, he was
approached by a Zimbabwean in Chegutu who
persuaded him to accompany him to
his uncle's farm.
He complied
and was given $28 after the meeting as "a token of
appreciation" and he left
safely.
The driver said when he was leaving Marongora in the
Zambezi Valley on
his way to Chinhoyi along the
Harare-Chirundu
Road, he saw a light vehicle ahead of him that was
moving suspiciously slow.
They drove together for some distance.
The vehicle pulled over in
front of him and two men alighted before
attacking him. He was put into the
boot of that vehicle and was allegedly
taken to Harare.
An
informant tipped detectives who went to Tivaton Farm in Chegutu and
arrested
Utahwarova.
Upon questioning, Utahwarova implicated one Moses
Chademana, a former
CIO operative, who is believed to have skipped the
country to South Africa.
The driver of the vehicle claimed that he
reported the alleged
kidnapping at Braeside Police
Station.
Source: Zimbabwe Herald